ME354A: Vibration and Control

Wednesday 18th January, 2023

Assignment 2
Problem 1. (i) The friction force between mass m and the contact surface is modelled
by Coulomb friction Fd = µk W (µk is kinetic friction coefficient). Derive the equation
of motion for the system shown in Fig. 1. Solve the equation for displacement x.
Initial conditions are given by x(0) = x0 and ẋ(0) = 0, where x0 is sufficiently large
that the restoring force in spring exceeds static friction force.

Figure 1: Spring mass system with Coulomb friction.

(ii) List at least three differences between the free vibration response of a system with
Coulomb damping and the free vibration response for a system with viscous damping
whose free vibrations are under-damped.

Problem 2. A heavy-duty front-loading washing machine has a mass of 20 kg, a spinner

diameter of 0.8 m, and it spins at 300 rpm. The machine is mounted on a support with a
stiffness of 380 N/m and a damping coefficient of 38 Ns/m. If the maximum allowed load of
clothes is 10 kg, what is the worst case value of:

(i) vibration amplitude, and

(ii) transmitted force.

Consider this as a single-DOF system and the lump of clothes as a point mass.

Problem 3. The landing gear of an airplane can be idealized as the spring-mass-damper

system shown in Fig. 2. If the runway surface is described as y(z) = y0 cos 2πz


L
, and given
that velocity of the plane during landing is constant, v = 252 km/h, determine the values of
k and c that limit the amplitude of vibration of the airplane (x) to 0.1 m. Assume L = 1750
m, m = 2000 kg, and y0 = 0.2 m.

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 Figure 2: Model of the landing gear

Problem 4. Consider the motion of a rotating unbalanced system constrained to move

vertically. The mass of the block without the rotating eccentric mass (m) is (M − m). Plot
XM
the locus of maxima for versus r (frequency ratio) for different values of damping and
em
interpret the results.

Figure 3: The rotating unbalanced system

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Problem 5. In a static firing test, a rocket is anchored to a rigid wall by a spring-damper
system, as shown in Fig. 4(a). The thrust acting on the rocket reaches its maximum value
F in a negligibly short time and remains constant until the burnout time t0 , as indicated in
Fig. 4(b). The thrust acting on the rocket is given by F = m0 v, where m0 is the constant
rate at which fuel is burnt, and v is the velocity of the jet stream. The initial mass of
the rocket is M . Its mass at any time t is given by m = M − m0 t, 0 ≤ t ≤ t0 . Given
k = 7.5 × 106 N/m, c = 0.1 × 106 Ns/m, m0 = 10 kg/s, v = 2000 m/s, M = 2000 kg and
t0 = 100 s,
(i) derive the equation of motion of the rocket, and
(ii) find the maximum steady-state 
displacement of the rocket by assuming an average
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(constant) mass of M − m0 t0 .
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Figure 4: Static firing test of rocket

Problem 6. Solve the differential equation 4ẍ(t) + 5ẋ(t) + 100x(t) = f (t) for the following
f (t) (assume initial conditions as x(0) = 0 and ẋ(0) = 0):
(i) sin(t) + 2 sin(3t) + 1.5 cos(7t), and
(ii) the periodic function shown in Fig. 5. Use the first three terms of the Fourier series
approximation. Take T = 2 seconds, A = 1 units.

Figure 5: Periodic function

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Problem 7. Determine the response of the single-DOF system: ẍ + kx = f (t) to the
transient excitation shown below (for t > τ0 ) with initial conditions as x(0) = 0 and ẋ(0) = 0
(x is the displacement from mean position).

Figure 6: Variation of forcing function with time.